It Takes Two To Tango

Note: This blog was originally published Febrary 15th, 2015. 

Writing more than one novel at a time might sound odd but the process is surprisingly helpful, in terms of keeping the words flowing in a relatively steady stream.

I’ve been jumping between The Conceptualist (cover pictured below) and The Studio (no cover design yet). Maybe a hop, step and a jump would be a more accurate description; one book is speculative fiction, the other general fiction (although the short story extracts in The Studio probably qualify as slipstream), and it takes a change of mental gears to redirect my thoughts.

The biggest benefit? Your mind doesn’t get stuck. If a section isn’t working, instead of fretting, you bypass the whole issue by focusing on a different project. It’s like walking from one room to another inside your head. The good news is your subconscious keeps working in the other room, getting the ideas to line up in sentences and behave themselves before you get back.

When both rooms are throwing a party? That’s a problem. The brain wants to to simultaneously soak up the happening scenes, and it just isn’t possible. But I figure an inability to focus on one project because two are screaming in your mind is a lot better than the infamous writer’s block everyone keeps talking about.

My brain is more prone to trying to write too many things at once, leaving me cross-eyed thanks to a confusing mishmash of sentences from multiple projects streaming through my skull. Those are the days I feel like I’m meditating in one room while trying to ignore the sounds of a fantastic get together next door…

On a side note, yesterday was Valentines Day, and I went to see Peter Bibby play at Bar 459 at the Rosemount Hotel, in the Blokes In Coats ensemble. Was a lot of fun, but it also made me think about The Studio (which focuses on a group of charismatic artists), because I believe a strong stage presence like Bibby’s is its own form of charisma. Or maybe you could say, a projection, or channeling, of charisma?

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